You know whats great about these quick reviews? Its when you have these movies that can be explained in just simple terms how you feel and you just have to write a paragraph instead of trying to analyze way too much. Anyways, it would be not feasible to write full reviews for everything unless I have everything backlogged and then, I’d just forgot I watched it.
Enough of ramblings, another three quick reviews for stuff I watched outside of recommendations 🙂
VANITY FAIR (2004)
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Romola Garai, James Purefoy, Tony Maudsley, Rhys Ifans, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Vanity Fair is adapted from the novel (which I haven’t read) about Rebecca Sharp (Reese Witherspoon), a girl who is orphaned at a young age and grows up poor and once she leaves the home for girls as governess, she tries to ascend the social ladder. We follow her through different stages in her life as society tries to pull her back but she always finds a way to climb back up in her own way.
I’m just going short here because this movie was a bit over 2 hours long and I have never watched a movie in 4 parts and I watched this over 3 days (at least). It just dragged on and on. If it wasn’t for a rather charming James Purefoy for a bit of the movie and hating that he got married to a very annoying Rebecca Sharp and feeling bad for him, I’d have shut off the movie. Still, I did keep on because I kept hoping it would get better. Till now, I don’t really know if I’m supposed to feel good or bad for Rebecca Sharp… I guess thats why, I downloaded the novel to my tablet and I’ll read it to know what the actual story really was 😉 Oh, and the girl from Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (review HERE) was in it too!
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Director: Mike Binder
Cast: Kevin Costner, Joan Allen, Keri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt
The Upside of Anger is about Terry Ann (Joan Allen) whose husband unexpectedly disappears and she is left with her four daughters: Andy (Erika Christensen), Emily (Keri Russell), Hadley (Alicia Witt) and Popeye (Evan Rachel Wood). As much as she should be taking care of her teenage girls, they end up taking care of her instead, as she picks up her pieces and eventually engages into a relationship with an once baseball star and now radio DJ, Denny (Kevin Costner). At the same time, the daughters each have to manage their own lives.
I chose The Upside of Anger because of Kevin Costner and my lack of exposure to his roles. Other than being slightly lengthy at parts, I felt that The Upside of Anger is definitely one that should be seen by more people. I don’t know, maybe a lot of people know about it? Do you? Its the first time I’ve heard of it at least and it took me by surprise in a very good way. As with the title, there are a lot of conflicts and crazy going on but somehow it gets the story flowing and we get a good view on the relationship of Terry Ann and each of her daughters, different point of views and how she changes and eventually sees things a bit different, a lot was slowly through an outsider’s perspective who was let inside which was Kevin Costner’s character Denny. The movie starts and ends with the narration of her youngest daughter, nickname Popeye and she recaps the essence very well with this quote:
Anger and resentment can stop you in your tracks. That’s what I know now. It needs nothing to burn but the air and the life that it swallows and smothers. It’s real, though – the fury, even when it isn’t. It can change you… turn you… mold you and shape you into something you’re not. The only upside to anger, then… is the person you become. Hopefully someone that wakes up one day and realizes they’re not afraid to take the journey, someone that knows that the truth is, at best, a partially told story. That anger, like growth, comes in spurts and fits, and in its wake, leaves a new chance at acceptance, and the promise of calm.- The Upside of Anger
GNOMEO & JULIET (2012)
Director: Kelly Asbury
Cast: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Michael Caine, Matt Lucas, Jim Cummings, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Stephen Merchant
I’m sure I don’t need a synopsis for this classic Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet but in a children’s version with garden gnomes. Forbidden love, family feud, garden gnomes, red versus blue, etc. You know the story already. Just remember Gnomeo & Juliet is aimed to children and it doesn’t get that bad. At least I don’t remember it being too hitting adult territory. With that said, if you sit through this with a fully alert adult brain, I promise you will find a lot of flaws in the story design and the premise itself. I mean, just for starters, how in the world do the owners not know where they left their garden gnomes and not question when they are shifted or don’t look the same?
BUT, if you can overlook those things and go to being a simple mind, they do have some pretty fun moments and I loved the voices. I recognized the main voices, especially Michael Caine. Who doesn’t recognize his because its so awesome. I have to admit that I paused when I saw Jason Statham (WHAT?!?!). That just made this totally out of the world. I really love the voice work. It made the characters very likeable despite its very predictable and possibly overused storyline. The characters were very cute and there were some nice moments. And well, some pretty nostalgic ones too. I may not have had garden gnomes when I was younger because it wasn’t my dad’s thing but we had those plastic flamingos. Coincidentally, the plastic flamingo was one of my favorite characters.
Gnomeo & Juliet is an average animation. It aims to please kids more than the parents. The upside is that it has a talented cast that gives life to each of these characters to make them fun and vibrant.
OVERALL..Out of these three, I’d really say that The Upside of Anger is the best one. It has a great cast with Joan Allen, Kevin Costner and my personal favorite, Keri Russell (who I almost wrote Felicity).
What has me curious now is: Have you heard of The Upside of Anger before? What is your favorite version of Romeo and Juliet? Have you read Vanity Fair before and is it similar to this movie?
Just a little intermission while I decide which movies from the recommendations list I want to watch! 🙂 Happy Friday!!
Tranquil Dreams 